Fate
for Pablo Neruda
A small hole has opened
beneath my foot,
in the dense woven black
of my cotton sock.
I see startled whiteness—
my granular skin,
clean as a peeled
winter onion.
I skin off the sock
with its tiny new eye,
converse of growth
on white potatoes.
I think to fling it
wherever things go,
worn out of service,
imperfect now;
but, seeing my fingers
bearing their marks—
alluvial strata
of weather and woe—
wound round the toe
of the aged sock,
this moves me to find
a spool of black,
to seek a sleek steel,
(slender remedy)
to thread its clear eye.
To blink. To retry.
Leslie Schultz
I have been thinking a lot about socks lately, as I knit along on a new one most days. Yesterday, I discovered a hole in a (mass-produced) sock I was wearing, and that led to this poem. After I wrote it, I thought of two favorite poems, this one by Pablo Neruda, and then this one by Ted Kooser–with clear evidence that his spare style is appreciated in China!
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Hope to see you tomorrow! Leslie
That sounds very handy–I don’t have one. Thank you for thinking of our darning needs!
DO you need a darner stick? Not sure if it has amore technical name – it’s a turned piece of wood that gives you a good surface for reweaving/darning, and ends in an easy to hold handle for your non- dominate hand. I found one clearing out. I can add it to the “For Northfield” bag.
Yes! Who knows what will give rise to a poem?
Thank you, Beth, for your comments and for pointing out my goof. I have just added the link to the Ted Kooser poem that I intended to include this morning. Here it is, also:
https://pangolinhouse.com/t-k-summerfall-2013-jar-buttons/
What a fun poem! Who could think that socks could inspire so much wonderful poetry?
What a surprise! At first glance, I was puzzled by your photos. Then I read your poem and it all made me smile, or, as my grandmother used to say, “delighted me!”
I particularly liked these lines:
alluvial strata
of weather and woe—
wound round the toe
of the aged sock,
The Neruda poem was new to me and what an ode! I couldn’t find the Kooser poem so perhaps you could send it with tomorrow’s poem? To have more than one poem from you in one day is truly delightful! Thanks, Leslie.